Azzurri exit will not stop renewal
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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Italy's shoot-out defeat by the Czech Republic meant they failed to finish in the top-four for the first time but Roberto Menichelli said the overall outlook is "positive" as he focuses on a bright future.
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Italy's quarter-final shoot-out defeat by the Czech Republic on Monday made a piece of unwanted history – for the first time, the Azzurri will not finish among the top four at the UEFA European Futsal Championship.
New-look side
The 2003 champions and runners-up last time around were in fine fettle during the group stage, beating Belgium 4-0 and Ukraine 4-2 with Clayton Baptistella and Saad Assis in devastating form – the pair are the finals' top two scorers. But despite twice leading the Czechs in Debrecen, they had to come from behind to draw 3-3 and then lost the shoot-out 3-1, missing their first three spot-kicks. However, the squad was much changed from the past. Roberto Menichelli, who took over as head coach last year, drafted Gabriel Lima, Cristian Rizzo, Sergio Romano and Marco Ercolessi into a youthful lineup, and he knew the relative lack of experience was a risk.
Taking positives
"The outcome of the tournament is positive in my opinion: we had three games, winning twice and drawing once," the former assistant to Alessandro Nuccorini said. "This is a different kind of team to the past, but this is the journey we have to take. During this journey, it might be that Italy fall before the semi-finals, as indeed happened. We gave our all, we ran into difficulties – not everything turns out for the best. But we beat Ukraine, we gave young players their debuts and we set ourselves on the road to composing the team of the future. You need to look at the positive things we built: it's the result that punishes us, it's a bitter elimination."
Retirements?
Now the question is whether the more experienced players will be there again in 2012. Marcio Forte, 32, said: "This could be my last European Championship. I still have the desire, I want to remain in this team." Meanwhile Vinicius Bácaro, the injury-hit 31-year-old goalscoring hero of the 2003 final against Ukraine, mused: "At the moment I don't know what my future in the national team will be. When I said [in October] this would be my last international tournament it was just a thought; whether I take it forward will depend on many things. Maybe the coach will not want me any more, it's not only for me to decide."
